OMS dealers withdraw strike

Warn of indefinite strike from June 4

Dealers selling government-subsidised rice and atta on Monday returned to OMS shops in capital Dhaka after two days of strike they held to press for their four-point demand.They, however, threatened to go for an indefinite strike from June 4 in case the government fails to meet their demands that include raising their profit margin by the time.The OMS dealers are pressing the government for an increase in the commission they get on their sales and daily allocation of the commodities.They also want an increase in the number of open market sales shops to 300 from 120.‘We have allowed the government some time to reflect on our demands,’ said Alamgir Saikat, president of the Dhaka city OMS Association.Although the strike was withdrawn, only 23 out of the total 120 OMS shops were opened in the capital on Monday.Dhaka Rationing chief controller Tapan Kumar Das said that it would take a day or two to get activities in all the OMS shops going again.Tapan said that the government was considering the demands raised by the dealers.Each dealer gets a tonne of rice and two tonnes of atta every day for sales with a commission of Tk 1.50 on sales of a kilogram of rice and Tk 1 on sales of a kg of atta.Dealers are demanding that the commission be increased to Tk 5 and the allocation to five tonnes.